South Side, Waltham, MA Violent Crime Rates and Maps
South Side is a neighborhood of 11,700 residents in Waltham, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in South Side?
South Side earns an A- for violent crime, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 54% of Americans live. Assaults make up 95% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury. Waltham as a whole grades A for violent crime.
A-
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 842 of 1,000About as much violent crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
46% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than South Side as a whole, and 54% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. South Side scores 842.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more violent crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its violent crime with the people who spend time there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy downtown or nightlife strip can show red while the homes around it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a solid connection. Compare high speed internet in South Side, Waltham, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in South Side in Waltham, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out about violent crime in South Side
Aggravated assaults run high for a neighborhood with an A for violent crime. South Side has 2.7 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a US neighborhood graded A for violent crime, the figure is 1.4.
How South Side compares within Waltham
Every part of South Side where people live grades A or B for violent crime on the national scale. Violent crime grades across South Side run from A+ to A-.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
South Side has less violent crime than 2 of the 9 neighborhoods in Waltham. It covers much of the South Side area.
Is violent crime going up in Waltham?
Reported violent crime in Waltham as a whole has risen 53% since 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.6 to 2.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
WalthamUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Waltham. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Waltham
Violent, US
2016
-4%
+4%
2017
-4%
+4%
2018
+14%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-19%
+4%
2021
-28%
+6%
2022
+4%
+5%
2023
+50%
+2%
2024
+53%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in South Side
CrimeGrade™ estimates South Side has about 9.7 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 27% less than the US as a whole and 18% more than Waltham as a whole.
All violent crime
Assaults
Robbery
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Violent crime here includes simple assaults, which the FBI's violent crime rate leaves out.
Assault is the most common violent crime in South Side, about 95% of the total.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a violent crime with the people who spend time in an area, not only the people who live there. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when violent crime happens in Waltham
The Waltham Police Department polices South Side; these figures cover Waltham as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Waltham as a whole, 62% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Aggravated assault
Homes (62%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Violent crime in South Side and nearby neighborhoods
South Side has more violent crime than 8 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods. Lasell Village and West Newton have the least violent crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from South Side. Beside each violent crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with neighborhoods of similar size and density, South Side is safer than 85% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set South Side apart: it has a Walk Grade of A- (76 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 87% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. It also combines many bars with dense blocks: places with both tend to report more assault and robbery than places with only one of them, and assault runs high here.
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more assault. 72% of residents here live in walkable areas.A- (76 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 81% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Bars and nightlifeBars, lounges, clubs and casinos. Places with more bars tend to report more assault and robbery.0.8 per 1,000 residentsUS: 0.6Higher than for 74% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.87% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 72% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.15% where people liveUS: 21%Higher than for 67% of residents of US city neighborhoods
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What violent crime costs South Side
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs South Side about $8.0 million a year, or $682 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $1.9 million, or $164 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How CrimeGrade™ works
The violent crime CrimeGrade™ covers murder, rape, robbery and assault, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each violent crime against the people who spend time in an area, so a busy downtown is graded on its workers and visitors as well as its residents.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
